KOLLAM: CPI state unit secretary Kanam Rajendran has said that his party is of the view that a person like K M<Mani, whose reputation is scarred by serious corruption charges, should not be accommodated in the LDF.

“The present LDF government is the product of the relentless agitations against Mani and the previous UDF government carried out over five years.”

Kanam said this while addressing a meet-the-press organised by the Kollam Press Club. He said that whatever be the version of the Vigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau (VACB) with regard to the corruption charges against Mani, the allegations in this connection raised by the CPI were based on strong grounds.

“No decision has been taken to invite applications from any political party for being admitted to the LDF fold and the monopoly of admitting a new party into the LDF does not vest with the CPI (M),” he said.

Rajendran said the LDF came to power with a clear majority and hence there was no need for any additional constituents. When asked whether the induction of the Kerala Congress (M) was a strategy by the CPI(M) to safeguard the government in case the CPI decided to quit the LDF, Rajendran quipped: “ the arithmetic I learnt shows that 19 is a bigger figure that 6.”

He said that the LDF was created based on certain values. The CPI leader said that all encroachments in Munnar, however big or small, would be removed.